


A Slight Change

by Verona_mira



Category: Cinderella Phenomenon (Visual Novel)
Genre: Apprentice-Ship, Because I call it that, F/M, Fem!Myth, Genderbending, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:08:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23107498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Verona_mira/pseuds/Verona_mira
Summary: One slight change of the initial setting. A slightly different decision.The world makes a step sideways.
Relationships: Waltz/Mythros
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, "Bloodlines" didn't receive anything new in quite some time. It is not abandoned. I am just wrangling a writers block there, because my initally planned plot didn't find my approval anymore, so I am replanning it.
> 
> In the mean time some other ideas came up and this is one of them. I am not sure, how this one will go, if it'll go further than a few chapters and if it'll ever be completed. But it is fun writing and the idea wouldn't let go. (Especially after noting how Myht's body shape visible on his pic looks slightly more hourglass like than a male bodyshape should be...)
> 
> As it is, I hope you'll like and enjoy this story as well as some of you do "Bloodlines".

The pain of losing his parents was still fresh, still hazing his thoughts and drowning out everything not necessary to get through the day.

Looking back Waltz barely remembered the early days under Hildyr's guardianship -it couldn't be called  _ care _ \- and this day only stuck out among the others, because something out of the norm happened.

He had been in his room, somehow pulling his thoughts from the pit the death of his parents had pushed them in. It was difficult to think through the haze of pain still covering his mind from when he had felt his parents die. He could still clearly recall the moment they had faded from the world and left him behind alone.

And while the pain wasn't lessening, it seemed that he was at least getting used to it enough to get started with formal lessons.

The door opening still surprised him, though. It was too early for his teacher to demand his attention and the servants only searched him out to bring him messages from her…

It was Hildyr walking in, eyes cold and dismissive like always and he quickly got up to greet her. The boy trailing behind her, clothes soaking wet and a myriad of emotions flickering through his eyes only registered properly to Waltz's mind, when his teacher shoved the boy into the room.

"Waltz, this is Myth. You'll share the room until another one is freed up."

With that the woman left and both children were left to look at each other, unsure what to do.

In one universe Waltz would have done what was necessary to push his mind back into the almost thoughtless state of learning without thinking.

In the current one thought, there was a slight difference.

Waltz was lonely, yes, and missing his parents painfully so. But both things were wrangling with each other always weighting the need for company against the wish to escape the pain.

In one universe the pain won. In this one something about the sight of the other boy flinching as the door fell shut, the way water was falling from uneven cut hair and dripping onto the floor or maybe just the way he seemed to curl into himself even standing pushed something awake in him.

Forcing his thoughts out of this deep pit they seemed to retreat into whenever he didn't have a task, he turned his full attention to the boy, he would be sharing this room with for the next few days.

-oOo-

"I'm Waltz. What's your name?"

"Myth. My name is Myth."

-oOo-

This place was safe and frightening at the same time.

Myth was happy to be somewhere where humans wouldn't try to drown her for being a witch, as they had tried to do when the queen had turned up.

The other boy, with whom she was going to share the room was friendly enough as well. He had gotten a maid to get her something to eat and dry clothes at least.

It left her warm, sated for the first time in  _ ages _ and utterly sleepy.

It was also in this lull between new things thrown at her, that the ever present fear of the last months reared its head.

She didn't know anyone here, how things were done or any rules. She didn't even know where her prior home was in relation to the capital so she couldn't even go back if something went wrong.

Everything in front of her seemed like it was on the other side of an abyss and herself being one wrongly calculated jump away from falling.

Every time someone approached, she could feel her fear flare and her heart starting to race. Calming down enough to sleep seemed impossible. And so she didn't.

And when the nighttime arrived and Waltz was sleeping already, she listened to him breathing and how there was a lack of noise from the hallway and somehow these things combined with the softness and warmth of the bed lulled her to sleep as well.

-oOo-

Waltz woke up the next morning not only looking at the foreign ceiling still strange to him, but also to his newest company -which he had noticed was a girl when the maid brought a simple dress instead of shirt and pants- curled up against him, her warmth mixing with his own, her breathing even and her fingers clinging to a shirt sleeve of his.

Somehow it lessened the pain of waking up somewhere away from the home where he had lived with his parents.


	2. Chapter 01

Myth woke up like many days before. In the townhouse owned by her and alone. It was nothing she wasn't used to, but the wind blowing cold into the room made her regret not sleeping in the room available to her in the palace.

Not that she had ever done so. While she did use it to stash spare clothes in case there was an all-nighter necessary, she had never slept in the palace. The risk was too big to take. The only reason why she had managed to slip through the cracks into the palace service years ago had been that the king's alleys had been looking for a young woman. Letting anyone know that she wasn't the young man she was pretending to be, would rip down most shields around her identity.

Mythros was a young noble from the edge of the kingdom the late Queen had raised to the ground quite thoroughly to discourage other countries getting involved in her politics. The result was that there was literally no one left able to say if Mythros had existed before introducing himself to the palace.

But being able to sleep there would be convenient. As it was, she wasn't risking any kind of employees and as such had literally no risk of anyone walking in on her when she wasn't wearing her disguise. Not that it took long to put on. The spells changing her facial features into something less female and changing her voice into a deeper tone were all anchored to the choker she was wearing hidden under her shirt, she just needed to put it on. In a similar way the glamour to keep people from connecting her with Myth in either form were attached to one of her earrings.

But keeping the spells up was tasking, the one keeping up the physical changes more so, with her own magic pushing against the changes to reverse them. And so every evening was a relief when she could take the choker off and the rare few days she could go without wearing it at were mostly spend lounging around in an overly comfy chair and going through the magic books and scrolls she had… 'liberated' from the palace after Hildyr had entered into crystal sleep.

Not that there were many of these days. Between keeping Alcaster happy with his proceeding coup -she really needed to find a way to make him fail there, but the fates of the knights had warned her accordingly- doing the work as a royal advisor, keeping her own business running to have an income fitting someone that high in society and using most of her magical strength keeping the Tenebrarum hidden from other witches and keeping herself hidden, she was surprised that she found enough magical strength to charge the spells on the cleaning supplies that went about keeping the house clean. At least the areas she used. And then there was also the amount of physical training she put herself through to keep her body shape constant...

As it was, Myth had the very set opinion that she deserved every single luxury she allowed herself when the day was over, which involved the oversized bathtub she had managed to get and all kinds of expensive bathing oils. And no, she was not regretting that investment. Not until there came another reason along outside the oils being expensive. And she was hoarding up more than enough money with no real expenses looking how she wasn't indulging in any kind of parties or paying any kind of servants.

Letting out a sigh, the young witch forced herself to leave behind the warm covers and get ready to leave for the palace. It was still way too early to  _ want _ to get up, but what other option was there? She needed to keep herself in the palace, make sure that no one stumbled over the Crystallum -she knew that the prince was using these passages and who know who else- and keep Alcaster from jumping the rail and pulling her down with him whenever his coup was bound to happen.

The so called alliance was a result of a mistake of her part during her earlier days in the palace as she had still been busy securing the Tenebrarum. Alcaster believed she had simply removed a ward Hildyr had put up in the passages and she hadn't bothered correcting him. And she had never bothered illuminating him about her gender either. That man was never going to listen to a woman, powerful witch or not.

-oOo-

This day could have been so nice. Started way too early and riddled with way too many tasks she wished she could shove at someone else, but the weather had been nice enough, slightly sunny with little clouds and a slight breeze pushing fallen leaves around in the autumn air.

Taking in the sight of the girl she had gotten to know as the crown princess wearing rags and no one remembering or recognizing her was doing stuff to her stress levels she hadn't thought possible.

At least she managed to cast a spell and pull the girl aside  _ before _ she managed to approach her father.

"Let go of me, I'm-!" "No normal people currently remembers you under normal circumstances," Myth cut the complaint off. "And your father definitely falls into that group regarding how he isn't currently influenced by any kind of magic to shield him from the effect your curse has on other people."

And she really wanted to know who had thought  _ that _ a good idea.

Her argument at least stop the pretty determined but weak struggling. The girl was accustomed to a physically cushy palace life and her physical strength was reflecting it clearly.

"...you remember me," the girl finally said, frowning at her. "Why do  _ you _ remember me?"

And there was the headache she had hoped to avoid, but persistently turned back up regularly. "There are limits to curses, princess, as they are to magic," the witch just replied. "I could go into detail, but I doubt this would be a very good place to do so." The spell was already pulling at the little resources she had left. She didn't think she would manage to keep it up for long if she wanted to get through the day normally.

The princess turned away and watched her father leave the palace, but thankfully stayed put. Now about getting her to the house…

"If anyone asks, some acquaintances thought it funny to get you drunk and play a tasteless prank. You're resultantly displeased at them, but they are currently managing to evade you."

It was a cover story and a very basic one at that. Better to not come up with anything too complicated on the fly. They think up something when in a secure area.

"I hate people," the girl just stated, but wasn't disagreeing at least.

"I know, princess. Be mindful of your steps, there are some sharp stones around."

-oOo-

Lucette's day had started bad, had gotten worse, but hadn't turned into a catastrophe yet. Even if she wasn't sure yet, why.

Waking up in the city when the last thing she could remember was being in her bedroom had been confusing and frightening in a way she hadn't expected. Especially when it turned out no one remembered her. Well, almost no one.

"So people affected by magic, be it by inheriting it or being cursed themselves should still remember me?" she finally asked, leaning back against the backrest of the sofa she was sitting on. Being inside, having some real clothes instead of a rag dress and having gotten some breakfast had done wonders to her mood though. Despite that she was pretty curious why Mythros had clothes for women around.

"Yes," the man nodded. "That is what it boils down to. Magic has trouble affecting other magic with the exception of the bearers. The Tenebrarum bearer would be able to break a curse no matter the original conditions."

"But the bearer and the Crystallum disappeared at the end of the Great War," she noted. Her tutors hadn't been quite clear what happened there, but it meant that there was currently no shortcut she could take.

"The last bearer died and the new one didn't come forward yet," the advisor corrected. "That person was heavily involved in the Great War and the driving force behind the corrupted witches. Their response to the Witch Hunts."

Lucette wondered why the tutors had been unwilling to tell her that. "In which category do you fall?" His eyes flickered from the clock he had been watching back to her and he raised a brow at her. "Why do you remember me?"

Tilting his head slightly sideways the man smirked. "Why don't you make a guess?"

Lucette frowned. A fairy wouldn't hide what they were, they were quite beloved after the war had been over. Curses were frowned upon, but with the current reputation of the witches, people would rather blame the witch for cursing a person than thinking that the person may have deserved it…

"You're a witch? A fairy or a cursed person wouldn't be hiding." There was no way her father knew about that. His opinion on witches was pretty clear.

The man chuckled. "A good guess. And why can't I be cursed? Some people hide it, due to what the curse does to them."

Her frown deepened and the man's expression smoothed back into the polite smile she was familiar with from him. "But you're right," he admitted. "I am a witch. I hope you'll understand that this is a secret as far as I am aware. So I would request from you, to not spread that around."

He was currently the one housing her. She would be stupid to jeopardy that.

"How did a witch even get close enough to curse you, princess? Despite your reputation, I would have doubted that the knights would have risked letting a witch inside the palace or anywhere near the royal family."

Feeling her mood drop again at the reminder that her favorite doll had turned out to be a witch and cursed her, Lucette glared at the table in front of her, before starting to explain what happened. Halfway through the man looked like he was suffering from a headache. When she was finished, he looked utterly resigned.

"Alright. I know of Delora. She tends to stay close to the Lucis bearer and despite her latest introduction to you, I doubt she is going to accept you being not accounted for just like that. At least not if she didn't go off the deep end." The last bit was muttered quietly and Lucette wasn't sure, if she was supposed to hear it. "And while the current Lucis bearer is not in good health anymore since the Great War, going up against a bearer would be suicide for a normal witch or fairy. Well, at least in a direct fight. Traps  _ are _ a thing…"

Lucette raised a brow at the man, who quickly pulled his thoughts back into reality. "Well, fact is, she may be looking for you."

"I do not plan to randomly wander the city at least. I think I had enough of that for the next few months."

"Right," the man nodded. "There is a library upstairs you may look through. There is food in the kitchen when you get hungry. We can talk more about how this arrangement is to work exactly in the evening." He glanced at the clock again as he got up. "Locked doors are to stay closed. If only because the rooms are unused and resultantly dusty. Stay out of my bedroom and my office as well, please. Otherwise there isn't really that much in here. And now I need to get going, before people at the palace wonder where I disappeared to."

Lucette was left alone in the salon, watched the man leave and wondered what to do. After a few minutes in silence and letting her eyes wander through the room and take in every single thing about it, she got up, to see if she found the library he had mentioned.

All in all the day turned out to not be too bad after the initially turbulent start, Lucette finally judged after spending the whole day curled up on a seat in the library, leafing through a book with obscure poetry. And knowing that Mythros was a witch also mostly explained the more exotic books he had filled his shelves with.

Food had been a bit more complicated though and with literally no experience about how to use a stove she had kept to fruit when she had gotten hungry.

As it was, she was safely inside a building, warm and sheltered from the weather and no longer out on the streets. There weren't even any servants around to whisper behind her back or to glare at her and so her mood was surprisingly good, despite no longer being in the palace. Not having Emelaigne around stubbornly disrupting comfortable silence was also relaxing.

Staring outside and watching the world slowly growing dark with the approaching dusk was not much different to watching the world through the window of her bedroom at the palace. The only difference was that the library had no bed in it. Which did make the question come up, where she was supposed to sleep. When she had looked around the townhouse she hadn't found a single room looking like a guest room and not covered in dust.

As such she was keeping an ear out for anyone arriving and was quick to move when the entrance door opened.

-oOo-

Myth had almost forgotten that the princess was currently housed in her home when she had entered and looking at the girl, she suddenly found herself confronted with the choice of keeping up the game of play-pretend and keeping up the mask of Mythros or not.

She had no illusions that the girl remembered her, Hildyr had been very thorough with her memory spells. But she still wouldn't need to bother with the spells outside of her bedroom and- who was she kidding? She had no chance of keeping it a secret from someone she shared a home with, especially if she by some chance forgot that she was and walked around half-asleep.

Before the girl could really say anything, she reached into her collar and pulled the necklace off.

The dumbfounded look at the girl’s face was so worth it though.

"Not what you expected when all masks come off?" she chuckled and the girl stepped closer, as if reducing the physical distance would reverse the change she had just seen.

"I… didn't think that possible. Your face… changed?" Lucette said, tilting her head slightly, trying a slightly different angle to look at her.

"Yes. The spells change my voice, the bone structure in my face and together with a bit of freedom in my clothing choice disguise the fact that I have a more female than male body shape," Myth agreed. "For some reasons my presence in the palace was required after the war, but I was very aware that women do not tend to occupy the positions with the freedom necessary for my self-given task."

There was curiosity visible in the girls eyes as she stepped back again. "I would have never guessed. But then I wasn't looking out for it either..."

"No one ever does," Myth agreed. "The disguise is either so bad that it is clearly visible or not. But then you would normally need androgynous facial features to pass. With me not having these, I needed to cheat and the body shape can be mostly faked with the right clothing."

"Mostly?" the princess frowned. "You  _ are _ tall for a woman…" "...and if nature had deigned to give me a bigger chest than I got, I would have needed to think up a different way to get into the palace," the witch added. Small chests were a blessing. It kept men from ogling the few times she was out in female clothing among other things. "I do need to keep track of what I am eating though."

Eating normally and her long hair were the only things she was really missing and looking forward to as soon as she didn't need the disguise anymore… 

Apropos eating… "Already had dinner? I got some things from the market during the day."

"I- no. I wasn't sure about how the stove worked and didn't think you would appreciate me burning the place down," the girl replied, looking really out of her depth. "Your name is not Mythros, is it?"

Myth laughed. "No, it was close enough to that I would have no trouble listening to it. It's Myth. Call me by it, if you want. It's similar enough to be a nickname, if anyone asks."

-oOo-

Lucette wasn't quite sure what to think, looking at the strange turn the evening had taken. She still wasn't quite sure when Mythros she only had ever thought of a bit strange had turned into a woman, who was a bit to the taller side, but definitely a woman. Especially visible now that  _ she  _ was wearing a simple skirt and female cut shirt instead of the male shirt and pants. The missing coat and whatever she had use to make her waist less slim also did its part.

It really hammered home that the person everyone thought was a man and had rumours about a lady love somewhere following him around -mostly due to the scent of bathing oils reserved for woman clinging to him quite regularly- was very clearly  _ not _ a man, but a woman. It explained the woman clothing at least.

Not even a butch one, but very clearly feminine. Who was eating less than Lucette despite being taller and was eyeing the remaining croissant mournfully.

"Is that what you mean with keeping track of what you eat?"

"I had multiple small meals through the day. And I'll need to run through some training as well, in the evening," Myth sighed. "I'll dump  _ so _ many habits when this task is over."

"What is this task anyway that you need to be in the palace for it?" That she was most curious about.

"The last bearer hid the Crystallum in a hidden space there. There are wards to keep people from messing with it until it goes to the next bearer, but its presence alone wears the spells down and so they need to get renewed regularly. And only a bearer can move it," the woman said, leaning back in her chair. "Being able to move it around would have made so many things easier."

Lucette didn't say anything to that. If Myth hadn't been going to the palace each morning, she would have never run into each other. Or the woman may not have cared.

Why did she even care?

Lucette didn't ask about it. "Where am I supposed to sleep?" instead escaped her.

Myth stilled at that one. "Yes. There was that," she sighed. "How averse are you to sharing a bed? Cleaning out a room will take some time. But I arranged for me to be here tomorrow, so it would be done by tomorrow evening."

Lucette blinked slowly. She had only ever shared a bed with her mother when she had been small enough to not remember it.

"Sharing… a bed?" She didn't know how she would have reacted if she still had thought Myth a man at that offer.

"Well, all guest rooms are dusty. I don't have any servants so no one stumbles over my secrets. And using magic takes strength, so I keep it to what is necessary," the woman shrugged. "If you prefer dust and think you can sleep without sneezing every minute… Well and the salon as comfy couches."

Comfy yes, but she didn't know if she wanted to sleep on one. "I'll… think about it?" she got out instead, relieved when the witch accepted the answer.

She still found herself getting a nightgown handed some time later and tried judging the size of the bed Myth had offered to share. It wasn't smaller than the one in her bedroom at the palace. Rather bigger and with enough pillows that she wasn't sure of the exact number at the first glance.

And a lot more inviting than any couch.

Ten minutes later she was curling up with her own blanket on one side of the bed.

When the lights went out and Lucette found herself staring into the dark for a few minutes, trying to pretend she was still in the palace, in her own bedroom, in her own bed.

But the sheets smelled different. The moonlight fell into the room at a different angle. There was another person in bed with her. This wasn't her bed. This wasn't her home. After a whole day of being distracted by the facts, she found her fingers grabbing the necklace around her throat and pulling at it.

She could feel her breath hitching when it wouldn't come off.

Lucette didn't remember shaking or falling asleep, just as she didn't remember arms pulling her close. She woke up hugged against Myth though, another person’s heartbeat and breathing against her ear.


End file.
